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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23896363">Hearts Under Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilasSolarius/pseuds/SilasSolarius'>SilasSolarius</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Nephilim's Shadow [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Alexander (2004), Shadowhunters (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Men Crying, Mildly Dubious Consent, Porn with Feelings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:47:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,276</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23896363</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilasSolarius/pseuds/SilasSolarius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander has returned and conversations are had. Set immediately Following The Teacher's Heart.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexandros III of Macedon | Alexander the Great/Hephaistion of Macedon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Nephilim's Shadow [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1221569</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hearts Under Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Feelings with a side of so-so smut, Lol. I'm so not good at smut but...well this is how it worked out.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alexander is alive.</p><p>When he'd followed Bane and Alec to Bane's apartment to meet Ragnor Fell, he'd done so under the belief that the three would be spending the day at the young warlock's home. He'd been prepared to leave, to continue a mission he'd been putting off in order to deal with the Seelie Queen's continuous betrayal of his young hunter. Then Bane had received a phone call and the three were stepping into a portal.</p><p>They'd gone to a place he couldn't follow and it had taken every inch of his self-control to keep the irrational fear he felt at that moment in check. To keep himself from panicking like a fledgling many centuries his junior. Instead he had forced it to the side, trying to think of a reasonable reason for why Bane and his friend would portal away with the shadowhunter, especially when the former had to have been aware of his presence. Just as he'd begun to contemplate just sending the warlock a fire message...his phone rang.</p><p>It was...jarring.</p><p>So rarely he'd used the device that he oft forgot its existence. All the same he answered the call, listening as Alec explained that he needed him. That Bane was sending him a portal to the home of Catarina Loss, a warlock he'd rarely interacted with, but one that he was aware had several dealings with his sky.</p><p>He'd done as bid, entering Bane's apartment to find a bright violet portal waiting for him and whatever he'd expected when he arrived...it hadn't been the man sitting in front of him.</p><p>His king.</p><p>His Alexander.</p><p>His heart.</p><p>For over two millennia he'd mourned his love, longer still he'd grieved his loss and yet he was <em>here</em>. In the tiny cottage Hephaestion had built, the cottage where he'd trained his little sky and watched him grow into the man he was today.</p><p>A cottage he'd been sure he would die in.</p><p>And yet…</p><p>He couldn't bring himself to speak.</p><p>As if leaving Warlock Loss' loft had broken him from the euphoria that had overtaken him when he'd been reunited with him, entering his own home had allowed the shock to set in because this- this was real.</p><p>It wasn't a hallucination conjured by his fading mind, nor a mirage induced by his own self-imposed starvation.</p><p>His king had returned to him.</p><p>So why had his words escaped him?</p><p>Calloused hands reached up to cup his face, their owner's gaze so soft, so warm that all he could do was look away.</p><p>"Will you not meet my eyes, My Phai?" His beloved whispered and he swallowed thickly, feeling tears burn his eyes.</p><p>"I cannot."</p><p>"You can."</p><p>Unable to deny the other even the slightest request, he reluctantly met his gaze, a shudder racing through him as the pure love and warmth in them seared his soul like a live wire.</p><p>Alexander smiled, thumbing away the tears of blood that escaped him. A wounded noise left the brunette at the gesture and unbidden a sob escaped him.</p><p>So long.</p><p>It had been centuries since anyone had dared to touch him so intimately, since anyone had seen him with his barriers down. He tried his hardest to keep things locked inside, keep his pain from reaching the ears of the young hunter he'd taken in as his own but he knew the boy had seen it. He'd been the only person he'd allowed to see him so vulnerable...at least until now.</p><p>"My Hephaestion," The blonde rumbled, "oh, how you've suffered. The child of your heart almost denied allowing us to meet, afraid that our meeting would be the thing that breaks you."</p><p>He bit his lip, fangs tearing through the soft flesh until he could taste the stale coolness of his own blood on his tongue, and another sob escaped before he could stop it.</p><p>Then another.</p><p><em>And </em>another.</p><p>Sob after sob escaped despite his efforts to hold them in and finally after so long trying to remain strong, he shattered. He shattered, and curled tighter into the solid form holding him up, knowing that his beloved was there to put him back together. That his Achilles had returned to him.</p><p>Alexander, knowing better than to comment on the way his love breaking, continued to speak, running his fingers through the long tresses, he had so loved in the past.</p><p>"I'm so sorry it took me so long to get to you. I'm sorry that you continue to suffer due to my ignorance. I- I'm so sorry Hephaestion."</p><p>Shaking his head, Hephaestion pulled away, blood stained cheeks flushing slightly as he wiped away his tears.</p><p>"You...you tried to keep your promise. She told me of how you'd nearly killed her. Of how you were wasting away, and I was to blame for taking your soul with me when I died." He shuddered, arms coming up to wrap around his King, who frowned.</p><p>"Who?"</p><p>Phai scowled. "Roxanne." He snarled her name as if it were poison. "She and Bagoas were the reason I was dragged from the house of death and into this cursed form. They used some kind of ritual to try and bring me back because they hadn't anticipated that you would be so affected by my death."</p><p>Alexander stiffened.</p><p>"They killed you." It wasn't a question.</p><p>Hephaestion inwardly cursed his own lack of filter when it came to his love, watching as pure wrath lit those fierce eyes.</p><p>Eyes that flashed a bright, almost white gold, as if someone had captured sparks of lightning and replaced them.</p><p>He jerked back in shock.</p><p>"Alexander?"</p><p>The blonde didn't seem to hear him, glaring viciously into space as if he could reach into the House of Hades himself and drag Bagoas and Roxanne's souls to the surface once more. Then a dark smirk crossed those lips, dark humor in that fearsome gaze.</p><p>"They were foolish." He snarled. "All of them. To think that separating us would lead me to their power. As if they had yet to realize that without you, Hephaestion, there was no empire. No Alexander."</p><p>His eyes softened and he pulled the vampire back into his arms, one hand coming up to hold his cheek. "I am nothing without you, Patroclus."</p><p>Phai smiled, bitter and pained, the millennia of pain and loneliness rearing their ugly heads, as he nuzzled into the touch. "How I have missed you, my Alexander. My sun. Please," He whispered, his voice pleading in a way the blond had never heard. "Please don't leave. Not again."</p><p>Alexander leaned forward, brushing his lips across his moon's. "Never."</p><p>It was a promise.</p><p>One he knew he would do everything in his power to keep, after all, Hephaestion had been the one person to stand at his side for everything, The one person to love him no matter what he'd done.</p><p>If all he asked of him was forever, well, he would give it to him.</p><p>Someone was in his home.</p><p>
  <em>In his bed.</em>
</p><p>As a creature of the night, very rarely did he need to sleep, yet when he did it normally lasted months at a time. After over two thousands years of wandering the planet, he'd found sleep to be the only way to escape his own stagnant existence and often, he would hibernate for decades without noticing. This said, it was rare for him to sleep in the presence of another, especially in his home. The only one he'd allowed in his home was his child, who had only happened upon him sleeping once in the years he'd known him.</p><p>So who was in his bed, and more so, why were they there?</p><p>Turning to glance over his shoulder, he froze, breath stilling his lungs.</p><p>
  <em>Alexander.</em>
</p><p>Suddenly the events of the night before raced back to him.</p><p>Following Bane and Alec.</p><p>Alexander's return.</p><p>Their talk.</p><p>They'd talked well into the night, his King curious about the life he'd lived since the fall of the empire they'd built, while Hephaestion had just been happy to talk to his lover once more. He'd told Alexander about the splitting and fall of their empire, about Ptolemy and his family's rule in Egypt. About the Roman empire that had risen after Alexander's and it's many emperors. He'd spoken of the founding of the Nephilim and the Shadow world. The books he had read and scholars he'd worked under. He spoke of Alec and his trials and achievements, of how much the child reminded him of Alexander, himself.</p><p>He spoke and he laughed, allowing himself to fall into the warm embrace of his king who'd taken him to bed just as the fire began to die.</p><p>They hadn't made love, content in that moment to lie in each other's arms after so long without their other half.</p><p>He smiled slightly, curling further into the other man's warmth, a silent gasp leaving his lips as his King's hips jerked in his sleep, naked cock brushing against his ass.</p><p>He silently cursed himself for not wearing any clothing to bed, even as his own hips pushed back against the other.</p><p>So long had passed since he'd allowed anyone close to him in such a way, having not dare lay with another since his king had fallen. Instead, he'd pushed his carnal desires aside and thrown himself into working, only allowing them to surface when he felt safe enough to take care of the urges himself. The feel of another's heat, of that familiar cock rutting against him, sent a tremor of pleasure through him.</p><p>"Ph-Phai," The blonde grunted, hazed two-toned hues sliding open as his hips thrust forward particularly hard, feeling the familiar grip of his lover's tunnel engulf him.</p><p>Hephaestion cried out, pleasure and pain dancing across his nerve endings at the intrusion, and rocked back into the resultant thrust. Never had he been more thankful for the instant healing his curse gave him.</p><p>"Alexander!"</p><p>His King stilled. "Did- Did I hurt you?"</p><p>He shook his head, grinding back against him, moaning as the motion drew the blonde deeper into his body. "Move. Gods, <em>move</em>!" He gasped and his lover did as he was bid, pressing hot open mouthed kisses to the chiliarch's bare shoulder.</p><p>Pulling out, he thrust forward, one hand moving up to Phai's chest to roll his nipple between his finger tips, the other wrapping around the beautiful brunette's hip and pulling him closer with strength that belied his godly nature.</p><p>"S-Stop. Alexander, s-stop!" He stilled once more, terrified, but his fears were quickly alleviated when Phai pulled away from him and rolled onto his back, pulling him atop the general.</p><p>Positioning himself back at the vampire's entrance, he paused. Seeming to be of the same idea as him, his moon reached over to the bedside table and pulled out a vial of oil. Slicking himself with it, he thrust back in slowly, loving the way his love arched in pleasure.</p><p>So long had passed since he and Hephaestion had shared a bed, even before his death, and he'd missed the connection, the intimacy of the act. He'd missed watching his proud lover fall apart beneath him or atop him, long chestnut hair in disarray atop his head as he lost himself to their passion.</p><p>Those strong thighs trembled as he wrapped them around his waist, thick length bobbing as he plundered his beloved's lithe form. Better, dazed iridescent eyes were watching him, burning with the lust and passion they always had. With a love that had never faltered even when all others had long since lost their faith in him.</p><p>"My love," He grunted. "My moon. My Patroclus."</p><p>Hephaestion's voice gained an octave, hands clenching the sheets of his bed, copious amounts of precome leaking from his cock as it moved with the rhythm of Alexander's thrusts.</p><p>"Alexander! My king, please! I need you! I need- ngh!"</p><p>"Cum for me, Hephaestion." He ordered, his gaze burning as he saw the sharpened fangs lengthening his love's teeth, the glow of those blue eyes as his most faithful fought to retain control. His loins tightened at the sight, and he could feel his own end nearing. "Cum for your King."</p><p>"<em>ALEXANDER!"</em> The cry of rapture was entrancing, and before he could stop it, he was following his heart over the edge of bliss, his love's name falling from his lips like a prayer.</p><p>Trembling through the aftershock, he collapsed beside his love, who winced as their bodies separated. Pulling his general close, he buried his face in his sweaty hair, the language of their home leaving his lips unbidden.</p><p>Words of adoration, of praise, of <em>regret</em>, they all escaped him, confessed into the hair of the man beside him. Hephaestion bore them gracefully, his own words just as soft.</p><p>His Moon whispered his regret that he hadn't joined him in Hades, his love for him unwavering despite their millennia apart.</p><p>After a moment, his chiliarch pulled away, a tiny smile on his lips.</p><p>"I am to meet Alec and Bane for I know him, and I do, he will insist I invite you."</p><p>Alexander smiled, brushing his lips across his love's cheek, giddy with the fact that in this time he would be allowed to love his Moon in the open. That his Phai would be able to introduce him to the child of his Heart. He said as such watching as the other flushed faintly, then urged him up.</p><p>Not all was healed, and the shadows in Phai's eyes still lingered with their tales of loneliness and remembered pain, but he knew that they would be facing it together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N: I have one more story planned for this series, but it will be a while before I get to it. Until then, hopefully you all enjoyed this.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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